The Challenger
by Amnesie
Summary: Alex finds out about the arrangement Addison made with Mark. What does he have to say about it? Addex
1. Chapter 1

He was going to do it. He'd never been a man to hesitate and now wasn't the time to start. Guys were notoriously bad at reading signs, but the ones she had been giving him were obvious, the equivalent to bright, vivid green lights along the dreaded, dark highway of… love. He'd admit it. He was strong and self-assured and, for once in his life, head over heels for a woman. Alex Karev was in love with Addison Montgomery. Looking back, he had never had a choice.

The one question that remained despite his resolute certainty was what to do about it. He knew it was going to be up to him. She wasn't the kind of woman to disregard rules and regulations. But lucky for them, he was that kind of guy. She might not want to be the one to initiate their relationship, lest she be deemed an inadequate superior, but he'd never shied away from debauchery. He invited it. Especially when something so potential satisfying could result.

He was going to ask her out.

And he did. Only the response he received wasn't the one he wanted to hear.

"Alex." He should have realized that the frown that accompanied his name was a good indication as to where the conversation was going.

She sighed and gazed into his eyes, silently begging him to understand. He wasn't going to.

"That day when Meredith drowned, I was feeling vulnerable. Mark... He… I… I promised him then that if he could last sixty days with no sex we'd try having a real relationship."

He inhaled sharply, feeling betrayed.

She reached out and touched his shoulder gently. He backed away from her touch as if he was repulsed by it. He'd never know how much her spirit plummeted at that moment; how much he'd caused the hole in her heart to expand, effectively tearing out the stitches that his devotion alone had once placed.

Her eyes were downcast when she spoke again. "I don't think I can cast away so much history without giving him another chance. A real chance, this time."

Tears stung at his eyes and he looked upwards to halt their spillage. "He's hurt you," he ground out.

She nodded, crying quietly herself. "He has. And I've hurt him. But we've been through so much and I need to see this through. For my own piece of mind."

He dropped his head in submission and left. There was nothing more to say.

* * *

Walking around the streets of Seattle, he found himself lost, physically, emotionally, wholly. He could find his way back to the hospital easily enough by way of street signs, but there were no road maps that could tell him how to regain the part of himself that he'd lost to her.

Mark Sloan was the kind of guy that he thought he had wanted to be. But he'd been wrong; he'd discovered that, ironically, with her help. He wasn't Mark Sloan and, in everyway but one, he didn't desire to be. But maybe if he had turned out more like him, she would have been his. In this symbolic battle, Mark Sloan was the winner and he was simply on a losing crusade.

There was always the possibility that Sloan could waste his chance with her, but did that really matter? She'd made her decision. He was second best. If that. He didn't really know. All he did know was that she sent him looks that made him think she wanted him and definitely made him want her. She had a powerful presence that commanded respect and a gorgeous figure that held a damaged soul. She was intelligent and witty and pursed her lips when she was thinking in a way that made him want to pull her close by her lab coat and show her his affection. She was flawed, but she was just flawless.

So what if he wasn't Mark Sloan? She was better off with him-- and he knew that with some convincing, she'd agree.

* * *

When she saw him approach her, her eyes grew wide. He grinned to himself.

'That's right,' he thought, 'you'd better be surprised.'

He strode directly up to her and they stood about a foot apart. She gazed up at him, curious to say the least. He felt his skin grow warm at her proximity and shook off his unchaste thoughts.

Clearing his throat before he spoke, he glanced down at his pager. "Do you know what today's date is?"

She raised an eyebrow at his inquiry. "The seventh, I believe. Why? Is it important?"

He grinned playfully. "Not yet, but it will be."

She shook her head in confusion. "I don't…"

He silenced her thought by running one of his hands through her hair. His determined eyes bore down into her hesitant ones and he felt himself slipping further into her spell.

"The way I see it, this means I still have forty-seven days to win you over."

Her eyes enlarged at his declaration. She opened her mouth as if she were going to protest, but gradually closed it again. He could have sworn he saw a glimmer of anticipation- or possibly something more profound- in her eyes and it spurred him on.

"If you can give him two months to prove himself to you, then it's only fair that I should get the same. But since I'm the better candidate, I'll just take those forty-seven days."

He flashed a self-assured smile her way.

"Starting now."

Any meaningless protests she might have had were lost in his kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

His campaign for her heart, if you could call it that, had started off strong. That was evident enough by his kiss, which had left her head spinning. It was unprofessional to have attacked her like that in the middle of the hospital and she really should be angry with him for it, but she didn't have it in her heart. She had yearned for it. She may have made some impetuous arrangement with Mark, but that hadn't negated her attraction to him. She'd wanted him for some time, and her desire had only been amplified by their first kiss that fateful night in the bar and had been escalating ever since. She was drawn in by his soft brown eyes and his muscular arms. His gruffness was at once both infuriating and attractive; his sensitivity a refreshing surprise. She should be irate at him for reminding her what a temptation he was-- and in such a physical, masculine way that oozed raw sexuality.

But instead, she was angry with him for something else. Something that she really should not be angry about: He hadn't called her. He hadn't sent her flowers or asked her out to dinner. She hadn't even seen him-- in five days!

Didn't he realize that he only had forty-two days left? And why was she the one manning the countdown if he apparently didn't care? She had begun to wonder if he regretted his declaration. It had been made impulsively and she should have known that he didn't mean it. Even if his breathtaking kiss had made it seem like he did.

* * *

It was all a part of his plan. All conquerors had to have a strategy.

If he had simply wanted to win her over momentarily, he would have seduced her in an on-call room, or at the bar, or against her desk as all of the papers haphazardly flew to the ground beneath them. It would have been sizzling and intense. He wasn't ruling it out as a prize to be repeated regularly after they were together, but that wasn't the approach to take when his target was more than a fleeting possession of her body. He wanted her heart and the reciprocity of his own tender feelings. If all she wanted him for was sex, then Mark would do just fine. He wanted her to want him for him.

Consequently, his first step had to be making her realize that she did.

* * *

Looking up and down the hallways, she realized that she had never grasped how empty the neonatal wing was without him. Or, if she would admit it to herself, which she absolutely would not, how empty she was without him. He had gone back to assisting Mark, leaving her to wonder if a more awkward situation was conceivable. He didn't want to work with her and she supposed that was professional. It was not the greatest idea, however, if he was trying to tempt her. Having to look at him for most of the hours in the day and interact casually with him and be in very close contact with him in small rooms… those were persuasive factors. Him abandoning her, and his regular patients, was not so appealing.

Opening the door to Jane Doe's room, she walked in quietly as to not disturb the sleeping woman. Her heart went out to her. She was all alone in the world, nameless and neglected, except for her unborn baby. How scary it must be. She'd had some kind of emotional bond with Alex, but even he had abandoned her. Addison could hardly believe his gall. How could he desert a woman who relied on him? It showed only immaturity and heartlessness. The callousness of a true jerk. How did she know he wouldn't do that to her?

She moved to take a look at Jane Doe's chart and saw the young woman's eyes flutter open.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to wake you."

Her patient offered her a faint smile. "It's okay. Really."

Addison took her for her word and began to browse her chart. "Since Dr. Karev is no longer on my service, I am going to have Dr. Stevens continue with your treatments."

She raised her eyes to discern the woman's response. "I hope that is acceptable."

The patient's eyes lit up. "Of course."

Addison was thrown off guard by her response. "I… I'm glad. I know you…" she paused, searching for the correct word, "interacted… well with Dr. Karev and I apologize that he has not been around lately."

Her patient seemed perplexed. "But he has. He comes by to visit me every day."

Addison could feel her own eyes widen in shock. "Oh. Okay…"

Her patient beamed and motioned to the table beside the door. Addison turned around to look in that direction and gasped. She'd walked right by it when she'd entered, but it couldn't be missed now-- a huge floral arrangement of delicate white daisies and cheerful yellow daffodils.

She almost whimpered. He'd brought her patient flowers, but not her.

Turning back, she gave Jane Doe a polite smile and headed out the door.

His time was up. He might be hiding from her, but she was excellent at the game of cat and mouse.


	3. Chapter 3

As was evident by the way she burst into the intern's locker room yelling, he made her lose herself.

"Alex Karev!"

A few dozen heads whipped in her direction. Laughter stopped and lockers slammed shut.

She inwardly groaned. When she'd planned this in her head, which admittedly had been done hastily in her walk down the hall, the locker room had been empty. Now she looked like a jealous lover coming to claim her territory.

Which, unfortunately, was closer to the truth than she'd care to admit.

"That would be me." Her prey had his usual casual smirk on his face. He looked good. Really good. Five days away from him had really had an impact on her mental state, because she was almost willing to chuck her anger out the window and drag him to a place that actually was private for a refresher course on mouth-to-mouth. Almost.

She walked over towards him, sidestepping the belongings of other interns that lay haphazardly on the floor, including an overstuffed gym bag and what looked to be Izzie's hairdryer, but failing to miss a dirty tennis shoe, which sent her flying. His muscular arms caught her, and she sank into them for just a second before pulling away and repositioning herself in her infuriated stance.

"I need to talk to you."

"Okay." He stood before her, waiting for her to start.

"Not here," she hissed. "There's people here."

"Didn't think about that before you came to find me, did you?"

She glared at him for reading her so correctly. "Of course I did. I just thought you would be a rational, reasonable person and move elsewhere. Silly me."

He looked around the room. "They're just interns. You probably don't even know most of them. I don't."

She sighed aloud. "Fine, if you don't care…."

She stepped back from him and raised her voice, further drawing the attention of the others in the room. "Well, okay, Dr. Karev. But you should know after last time that syphilis can't remain untrea-"

His mouth stopped her from finishing her sentence. The kiss was slow, but intense and she felt her legs start to tremble some while her beating heart picked up its pace.

When he pulled back, she saw wasn't able to read the expression on his face. "Fine, we can go somewhere more private."

She smiled, glad that she had been victorious in the fight. He shut his locker, grabbed her hand, and maneuvered her around the chaotically-thrown belongings of the stunned interns. After they had locked themselves in a nearby on-call room, he scowled at her.

"You really are Satan, aren't you?"

"That's right. And you know what you are? You're a… a…." What kind of person was she? She couldn't even come up with a satisfactory insult when in an private, intimate setting with him. Had on-call rooms always seemed so small?

He smirked at her helplessness. "Just don't call me an Evil Spawn like everyone else does. Because right now," he leaned closer to her so that their bodies were mere inches apart, "that would make what I'm feeling very, very wrong."

She had thought it was impossible for her to do anymore, but she felt her cheeks heat and blush. He groaned outwardly, which made her grin. At least she wasn't the only one in torment.

He wasn't about to let her get the best of him. "You probably shouldn't have made that syphilis comment. After that kiss, who else do you think everyone will assume has it?"

Damn. There went her victory, she realized.

He watched her face fall and moved to put his arms around her. But she would have none of that. She backed away before he had the chance.

"No, I don't think so. You aren't allowed."

He scowled again. "Why not?"

"Because I'm angry with you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do I get to ask why? I don't believe I've done anything wrong."

She squinted at him, angry that she had to explain these things. "That is exactly why. You haven't done anything. I thought…" She faltered, realizing that she was giving away too much. He was really getting under her skin and she was losing her cool. "Never mind. I don't care. We are not involved. I'm not dying to get syphilis."

He snorted, obviously amused at her reasoning. "Let's get a few things straight. One, I don't have syphilis. That was _your _bad idea of a joke and, unfortunately for us, it will take months to dispel. I may have to go sleep with a few people just to prove it."

She gasped. He ignored her and continued on. "Two, we are involved. We kiss. Very hot kisses that get you excited and cause that look in your eye that begs for more. Remember? Plus, we have an arrangement."

She feigned surprise. "Oh that thing? I'd forgotten it. I'm surprised you remembered."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't buy for a second that you haven't been thinking about me… about us for the past few days."

"Get over yourself, Karev. I've gotten over you."

She began to move around him, heading for the door. He grabbed her wrist as she passed him and pulled her close to his chest. "You can think that now, if you desire, but I still have forty-three days to prove to you that over me is the last place you want to be. " He gave her a light kiss on the lips before whispering, "now under me or on top of me, we could work with."

She shook her head. "Forty-two days, Alex. Forty-two."

He grinned at the sudden reappearance of her memory. "I knew you still cared."

He gave her another feather soft kiss on her lips before pulling back. She looked up at him, trying to read the depth of emotion in his chocolate brown eyes. He wore neither his smirk nor his mischievous grin on his face, but rather a warm smile that she hoped he saved only for her.

"Meet me at Joe's, tonight. Whenever you get off work."

She nodded slowly. She moved to unlock the door and was about to open it, before she remembered something. She turned back to him and glared.

"Jane Doe loves her flowers, Alex. You sure know a way to a woman's heart."

He laughed, enjoying the jealous side of her, especially since he knew that it was centered around him. He was still grinning when she opened the door and stepped out, only to be met by the chest of another very masculine man.

Mark Sloan.

She'd forgotten about him.


	4. Chapter 4

She slammed the door shut behind her, attempting to hide the handsome intern on the other side.

Sloan leaned in close to her and she pressed herself against the door, blocking Alex from exiting should he try to push the door open.

"How is my favorite vixen today?" Mark ran his eyes over the length of her body and she could feel chills coursing through her, following the path of his gaze. "Still trying to tempt me with the low-cut shirts, I see…"

She glared at him threateningly. "Mark."

He smirked. "How about you join me at the bar tonight? We could drown our sorrows in a few hard drinks, maybe pick up a hot chick…"

She shook her head and sighed heavily. "That isn't winning you any points you know."

He raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "I didn't realize this was a contest. All I have to do is last another six weeks and I am the guaranteed champ."

She looked at him, amazed at his confidence. "You really think you can do it, don't you?"

His charming smile answered her question. "Maybe you should plan your vacation around that time, because after these sixty days of hell, we are not leaving my hotel room until I say so. And you know from experience that I have a lot of stamina…"

She was about to respond when she heard the sound of the doorknob behind her twisting. Mark look startled, and she guiltily dropped her head, knowing that they were caught. She conceded to the fact that she would have to let Alex out and moved from the door.

The barrier that had been separating them opened and Alex stood there stunned at Mark's presence. Sloan, however, took Karev's presence in stride.

"I guess I was mistaken. We do have a competition on our hands."

Addison looked from one self-assured man to another, taking in their aggressive stances. Each had his arms crossed and was glaring at the other. It reminded her briefly of a dream she'd had, but in it they been focusing on her, and not each other.

She turned to look directly at Mark. "It's not what you think."

From behind her, Alex spoke. "No, it's more."

She pivoted quickly in response. "Karev, not now."

He scowled. "You're going to blow me off for Sloan?"

She groaned, frustrated at all of the testosterone in the atmosphere. "I'm just saying not here. Not in the hospital. We're professionals!"

He shook his head, defeated. "It never stopped you before." With that he walked away, leaving her to explain herself to a very annoyed Mark Sloan.

* * *

She left work early that day. She had told that chief that she was sick, but he didn't need to know that it was emotional, not physical, distress causing her malady. As was expected, Mark had not taken the recent events well. She had admitted to him the truth- that she felt the need to see things through with both men. She had to be sure, to stop herself from repeating her own mistakes and from hurting someone else in the long run. He had stormed off, leaving her to wonder what the state of their relationship was.

Heading out the hospital doors she had seen Meredith Grey, who was also leaving from the night. Impulsively she had asked the intern if she knew where she could find Alex Karev. Meredith had given her a questioning look, but informed her that he had moved into her house. The news had surprised her, but she conceded to herself that the group of interns was extremely close and that she shouldn't feel threatened.

Or so she _had _thought until Meredith let her in the front door. Stepping into the large house, she heard rowdy laughter from the upstairs, resonating in both feminine and masculine tones.

Meredith gave her a warm smile. "He's upstairs. Go on up."

She nodded and smiled hesitantly in thanks. Not seeing anyone immediately, she started walking down the hall, peaking in each room as she went. Upon reaching the bathroom, she gasped.

The door to the shower was open and Izzie Stevens stood inside it wearing only a towel. Her hair was wet and dripping. Kneeled down next to it was the man she was looking for, shirtless and fiddling with the shower's controls, as if he was preparing to turn the water back on so he could join Stevens for a session of steamy, wet sex.

She quickly backed away, appalled at the situation and the devastation she felt because of it. But the pair had spotted her and Alex was quick to follow her out the door.

"Addison!"

She wanted to keep going, to run away as fast as she could, but she just felt defeated. She couldn't move; it was as if she was breaking in pieces and her legs were about to crumble beneath her.

He grabbed her and pulled her into the nearest room which, from the look of it, was his bedroom.

She started to shed tears, revolted by her own reaction, and he shook his head.

"It wasn't what you thought. I was just fixing the drain. Evidently O'Malley had to do it too." He brushed away a few wet droplets from her cheek and smiled. "It's all a part of the horrors of being a man living with women."

She responded to his joke with a wavering smile, relieved at his explanation, but still unable to meet his eyes.

He grasped the sides of her face, forcing her to directly into his eyes.

"Do you know who I am Addison? Because I don't think you do."

He sighed softly and brushed his mouth over hers, his lips lingering possessively on top of her own. He pulled back and she found herself entranced by his warm gaze.

"I'm not Derek Shepherd and I'm sure as hell not Mark Sloan. I'm the man that loves you. _Loves _you. Worships the ground you walk on and wants to cherish you for every single day of his life. I know you've been hurt before, but the next guy to hurt you is not going to be me." He paused, before grinning. "If you think you've experienced all life has to offer, trust me- you haven't. _We _haven't even gotten started yet."

She melted. This was a man who knew how to rack up points.


	5. Chapter 5

_I want to thank everyone who reviewed any chapter of this fic. Your support means a lot to me! I haven't updated in a while because I kind of hit a creative roadblock. I've decided to end the fic already just so it doesn't turn out to be one of those sporadically updated fics that take a year plus to complete :)_

* * *

That fateful night, when he'd trapped her in his room and bared his soul to her, willingly laying his feelings at her feet to either step on callously or to scoop up tenderly, she'd realized just how hard sixty days of celibacy could be- especially when every nerve in the body aches to be both soothed and driven crazy.

He'd invited her to stay the night with him that night and if she'd had one ounce less of principle in her body, she would have. Looking back, she should have. But she'd made a promise to Mark, who had been honestly trying to devote himself to her; shouldn't she at least be fair to him before she clued him in as to the fact their deal was over?

And it was over- undoubtedly. Why? Because a woman has only so much time in life. It's not about childbearing years or physical prowess, but about the time she can emotionally invest in a relationship. She could wait around for Mark to love her, assuming it was even possible for him to feel it wholly and completely for her. But he'd known her for years- a decade plus. If he didn't already, if he hadn't ever, could he?

When it came down to it, the answer was obvious. Mark was the familiar figure of the past who'd always been there and would seemingly always remain to be, but he was the horse who might never make it across the finish line. And while younger women may like to play with those odds, it wasn't a risk she could take. Not when she already had a guaranteed champ waiting for her at the end, with enough love to give to make the investment worthwhile.

She'd approached Sloan in the hospital one day, bracing herself for his reaction to what she was going to tell him: that he wasn't the one. But he'd turned and looked into her face and nodded. He already knew

"You can spare me the speech, Addison. It was hopeless, wasn't it? We were just fooling ourselves."

She'd sighed, upset that they'd come to this point; why hadn't they stopped when everything had seemed normal? "I'm sorry, Mark. But there's a part of me that will…You have to know that I actually wanted it… then."

He'd given her a halfhearted smile. "I know- kinda makes things a little easier. But I should have known it was going to be Karev. It's in the way you smile and the way your eyes light up at certain times of the day."

Their eyes had locked and he'd shaken his head, shaking his nonchalant façade back into place. She'd known at that moment that it was going to be the last time they spoke of it; they were done, their relationship over, with only memories, treasured pieces of a convoluted past, left in its place.

He'd given her a friendly jab on the shoulder and pointed behind her. "Go tell Loverboy he's won."

And she had. She'd walked straight up to him and kissed him. It was their first official kiss as a committed couple, a perfect, tender symbol of what they were promising to each other and to themselves.

Pulling back, she'd given him a soft grin. "Congratulations, Karev. I must be a pushover, but I'm your pushover. It only took you six days to win me over."

He'd laughed and tightened his arm around her waist. "I think it only took about sixty seconds, but I won't argue about it. As long as you don't put me through sixty days of no sex."

She'd giggled, pretending to consider it.

Of course, looking back, she'd known then there was no chance of _that_.


	6. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Why had she never noticed Alex Karev before? She felt foolish knowing that she'd gone so long with the man perfect for her under her nose the whole time- or at least since her relocation to Seattle. It was rather ironic that she'd had to go through adultery and heartbreak, pretty much through the destruction of the last ten years of her life and what she'd thought was her happily ever after, to find him… to get to this point. It was something she could now laugh at - who would have ever thought that possible? Surely not her. Yet when the course of your life just seems so right, as if you're where you were meant to be, it's easy to look back and laugh at the past. It's one of the true joys of contentment.

He'd introduced her to a lot of those. God's truth, he was still an ass. He made bitter remarks about things and cracked inappropriate jokes. He was tactless at times, and wholly oblivious at others. There were times that he aggravated her to the point that she had to wonder why she fell for him, but in those instances, she could never deny that she had. So he was an unkempt pig while she had the cleanliness of a drill sergeant. A little dirt never hurt anyone- and having a few pair of men's shoes strewn around her hotel room was better than them never having been there at all. So what if he favored watching cartoons at the end of a long day's shift? Maybe a little Daffy Duck was the cure all for each of her little worries.

Or maybe he was. She'd forgotten what life was like in its carefree, bright and breezy moments. It had been so long since she'd enjoyed even one. She'd casually commented on that one day and he'd taken her seriously, promising her she'd never have the chance to forget again. So far… so good.

* * *

He'd never laugh at a sappy romantic again, because, in truth, he'd be laughing at himself. It was pathetic, but God it felt so good to be… happy. She was everything he'd thought she'd be, sometimes things he'd hoped she'd wouldn't, but more importantly, she was more than expected. Better.

No, he'd never laugh at sappy romantics… or Prince Charmings either. He wasn't smooth when it came to flowery words or poetic verse, nor did he attest to being particularly chivalrous or gallant. He wasn't suave, truth be told he was more brusque and straightforward than anything, yet he was secure in the knowledge that she wanted him. She loved him. He was victorious…

But like every true fighter, he still had one last fight left in him.

* * *

They lay in bed together, basking in the so-called afterglow. She nestled closer into his body, breathing in the heady smell of sweat and masculinity. She emitted a peaceful sigh and the soft sound brought an affectionate smile to his face. The shadows of the room didn't allow her to see it, but she sensed it as it was on her own as well. She curled her arm tighter around his waist and gradually shut her eyes, content to doze off in his arms.

"Don't fall asleep."

She opened her eyes and peered up in the direction of his face inquiringly.

"Why?"

He glanced quickly at the clock and began to stroke the soft skin on her back leisurely. 11:59. One more minute.

"It's almost midnight, " he informed her.

Her voice sounded increasingly more curious. "I can see that. What's so special about that? It's not New Year's Eve. It's April, Alex, and guess what? The clock hits midnight every day in April and no one else celebrates."

He shook his head, grinning at her dry wit. Reaching under his pillow, he fingered a small object he'd hidden underneath.

"It's day forty-seven now. My last day to win you over."

He found her hand in the darkness and joined it with his. She felt the weight of a cool, circular, metal object in her palm.

"Since you have all the answers… what do you say to this?"

She clutched the ring firmly, a thousand blissful emotions running rampant in her mind. Wasn't the answer obvious?

"Yes."

He beamed to himself and searched out her mouth in the darkness, exploring her other parts in his endeavor.

Mission Accomplished.


End file.
